In a recent interview with Fruitcake Tony, Billy Sheehan talked about how David Lee Roth offered him a spot in his band and the need for secrecy.
“The third call came in and it was David Lee Roth’s office saying Dave wanted to talk with me about being in his movie,” Sheehan said of the call he received. “I said, ‘What?’ So sure enough I went out our first gig on the tour. I went out there and I had a day off and they came to pick me up and took me out to Dave’s house and he said, ‘Well there is a movie but that’s not really why I called you. You got to keep it, you can’t tell anybody, but I just quit Van Halen and I want to start a band. So you and me, let’s go find a guitar player and drummer.’ I said ‘I’m in.'”
“So that was that. The rumors started a little bit because he showed up at our gig the next day and people were like, ‘Roth’s here, what’s going on?’ I had to keep it a secret from everybody. So while we were doing that tour, I knew that at the end of the tour I was out and I was going to fly out to LA but I couldn’t say anything about it. It was an awkward situation but it was the greatest thing to happen to me career-wise ever,” he added.
The David Lee Roth band was formed, and Sheehan left after three years. He clarified that it was never about being treated badly or abused. “It was always a fun, great time, and we would laugh and just have a hilarious riot,” he explained in another interview. “I’m saving most of the stories for the book – when I do a book – but I will preface the whole point by saying that we had amazing times, and nobody got hurt, nobody got too intoxicated, nobody was ever abused or insulted or treated badly.”
It’s unclear if they are still friends, but Sheehan has never spoken poorly about Roth and often mentions how much he learned from him.
